About this Site

Emilie Davis was an African-American woman living in Philadelphia during the U.S. Civil War. This website is a transcription of Emilie’s three pocket diaries for the years 1863, 1864, and 1865. In them, she recounts black Philadelphians’ celebration of the Emancipation Proclamation, nervous excitement during the battle of Gettysburg, and their collective mourning of President Lincoln. The diary allows readers to experience the war in real time, as events unfolded for Civil War Americans. Read More...

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March 31- April 2, 1864

March, THURSDAY, 31, 1864.

to the fair very dull to day i went down to Mr Liveleys having my lesson in the afternoon i went home and sewed Nell came for me to go out she bout her Piecs and we paid two

April, FRIDAY, 1.

visits in the evening we went to the fair i enjoyed myself very much i had several Presents given to me Nell […] at the to night i did not go

SATURDAY 2.

another rainy Saturday i have not seen the girls since Thursday neale and nell stoped for me to go to the fair there was love Presentations a […] To conel [colonel] wagner

Annotation 1

Wounded at the second battle of Bull Run, Lt. Colonel Louis Wagner became commanding officer at Camp William Penn, where he was instrumental in recruiting and preparing black soldiers and white officers for service to the U.S. Army. After the war, Wagner served as the Pennsylvania state commander of the Grand Army of the Republic, an organization open to white as well as black veterans and according to historian Andrew Tremel, “expressed an appreciation of black military contributions.” Bacon, But One Race, 149; Tremel, “The Union League,” 15, 27.